Barcelona boss Hansi Flick was a happy man after seeing his team beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in La Liga on Sunday night. In one of the best games of the season, Barcelona came back from two goals down to defeat Atlético Madrid and return to the top of La Liga.
On the brink of halftime and just after Robert Lewandowski hit the crossbar, Atlético Madrid opened the scoring with a vintage quick transition. In just three touches, Antoine Griezmann set up Giuliano Simeone, who teed up incoming Julián Álvarez to tap in the opener for the hosts.
Another deadly Atleti counterattack in the 70th minute saw Connor Gallagher supply Alexander Sørloth, who scored against Barça for a sixth straight game. Barcelona players were livid, calling for a handball in the lead-up to Atleti’s second.
Before the celebrations could end, Lewandowski pulled one back for the Catalans with a wonderful strike for his La Liga-leading goal of the season. In the 77th minute, Barcelona found the equalizer after Raphinha fired a brilliant cross that Ferran Torres perfectly flicked past Jan Oblak.
Back in December, Atléti scored a stoppage-time goal in the reverse fixture. Today, Barcelona returned the favours as Lamine Yamal fired a shot from distance that deflected off a defender into the back of the net to complete the comeback. Torres then clinched the victory with his brace in what was the final kick of the game.
In a crucial match in the title race going into the international break, Barcelona now go four points clear of Atlético Madrid atop the standings, tied on points with Real Madrid but with a better goal difference and a game in hand.
“It was unbelievable, after going 2-0 down, the mentality we showed, we never gave up in this match,” said Hansi Flick. “I am very happy for the team because they deserved it, the way we played was really good and I’m happy. The reaction was really great.”
